"rhyme incorrigibly lewd, and his numbers perpetually " harsh and ill-founding. The little talent which he has, is "fancy. He fometimes labours with a thought; but, with "the pudder he makes to bring it into the world, 'tis com"monly still-born; fo that, for want of learning and elocu❝tion, he will never be able to exprefs any thing either na"turally or juftly."

This is not very decent; yet this is one of the pages in which criticism prevails over brutal fury.

He proceeds: " He has a heavy hand at fools, and a great felicity in writing nonfenfe for them. Fools they will be " in fpite of him. His King, his two Empreffes, his Villain, " and his Sub-villain, nay his Hero, have all a certain natu"ral caft of the father-their father was born and bred in "them, and something of the Elkanah will be vifible."

This is Dryden's general declamation; I will not withhold from the reader a particular remark. Having gone through the first act, he says, "To conclude this act with the most "rumbling piece of nonfenfe fpoken yet:

"To flattering lightning our feign'd fmiles conform,
"Which, back'd with thunder, do but gild a ftorm.

Conform a fmile to lightning, make a smile imitate light"ning, and flattering lightning: lightning fure is a threat"ening thing. And this lightning must gild a form. Now, "if I must conform my fmiles to lightning, then my fmiles "must gild a storm too: to gild with smiles, is a new inven"tion of gilding. And gild a ftorm by being backed with "thunder. Thunder is part of the ftorm; fo one part of "the storm must help to gild another part, and help by "backing; as if a man would gild a thing the better for be"ing backed, or having a load upon his back. So that here "is gilding by conforming, fmiling, lightning, backing, "and thundering. The whole is as if I fhould fay thus: "I will make my counterfeit fimiles look like a flattering "ftone-horfe, which, being backed with a trooper, does but

"gild the battle. I am miftaken if nonfenfe is not here pretty "thick fown. Sure the poet writ thefe two lines a-board "fome fmack in a ftorm, and, being fea-fick, fpewed up a "good lump of clotted nonfenfe at once."

Here is perhaps a fufficient specimen ; but as the pamphlet, though Dryden's, has never been thought worthy of republication, and is not easily to be found, it may gratify curiofity to quote it more largely :

Whene'er the bleeds,

He no feverer a damnation needs,

That dares pronounce the fentence of her death,
Than the infection that attends that breath.

"That attends that breath.-The poet is at breath again; "breath can never 'fcape him; and here he brings in a "breath that must be infectious with pronouncing a fen"tence; and this fentence is not to be pronounced till the

condemned party bleeds; that is, fhe must be executed first, "and fentenced after; and the pronouncing of this fentence "will be infectious; that is, others will catch the disease of "that fentence, and this infecting of others will torment a "man's felf. The whole is thus; when he bleeds, thou "needeft no greater hell or torment to thyself, than infect"ing of others by pronouncing a sentence upon her. What "hodge podge does he make here! Never was Dutch grout "fuch clogging, thick, indigeftible stuff. But this is but a "tafte to stay the ftomach; we fhall have a more plentiful "mefs presently."

"Now to dish up the poet's broth, that I promised:

For when we're dead, and our freed fouls enlarg'd,

Of nature's groffer burden we're discharg'd.

Then, gentle as a happy lover's figh,

Like wand'ring meteors through the air we'll fly,

And in our airy walk, as fubtle guests,

We'll steal into our cruel fathers' breafts,

There read their fouls, and track each paffion's fphere,

See how Revenge moves there, Ambition here;

And in their orbs view the dark characters

Of fieges, ruins, murders, blood, and wars.

We'll blot out all thofe hideous draughts, and write
Pure and white forms; then with a radiant light
Their breafts encircle, till their paffions be

Gentle as nature in its infancy;

Till, foften'd by our charms, their furies ceafe,

And their revenge refolves into a peace.

Thus by our death their quarrel ends,

Whom living we made foes, dead we'll make friends.

"If this be not a very liberal mess, I will refer myself to the "ftomach of any moderate guest. And a rare mess it is, far "excelling any Westminster white-broth. It is a kind of

"giblet porridge, made of the giblets of a couple of young "geefe, ftogged full of meteors, orbs, fpheres, track, hide

ous draughts, dark characters, white forms, and radiant "lights, defigned not only to please appetite, and indulge luxury, but it is alfo phyfical, being an approved medi"cine to purge choler; for it is propounded, by Morena, as a receipt to cure their fathers of their choleric humours; "and, were it written in characters as barbarous as the "words, might very well pass for a doctor's bill. To con"clude: it is porridge, 'tis a receipt, 'tis a pig with a pud

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ding in the belly, 'tis I know not what: for, certainly, ne"ver any one that pretended to write fenfe had the impu"dence before to put fuch stuff as this into the mouths of "those that were to speak it before an audience, whom he "did not take to be all fools; and after that to print it too, " and expose it to the examination of the world. But let us fee what we can make of this stuff:

For when we're dead, and our freed fouls enlarg'd"Here he tells us what it is to be dead; it is to have our

freed fouls fet free. Now, if to have a foul set free, is to "be dead; then to have a freed foul fet free, is to have a "dead man die.

Then, gently as a happy lover's figh—

"They two like one figh, and that one figh like two wander66 ing meteors,

"Shall fly through the air

"That is, they fhall mount above like falling ftars, or else "they fhall skip like two jacks with lanthorns, or Will with a "whisp, and Madge with a candle."

And in their airy walk fleal into their cruel fathers' breufis, like fubtle guests. So " that their fathers' breafts "must be in an airy walk, an airy walk of a flier. And "there they will read their fouls, and track the spheres of "their paffions. That is, thefe walking fliers, Jack with a "lanthorn, &c. will put on his spectacles, and fall a reading fouls, and put on his pumps and fall a tracking of Spheres: fo that he will read and run, walk and fly, at the "fame time! Oh! nimble Jack! Then he will fee, how re

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venge here, how ambition there—The birds will hop "about. And then view the dark characters of fieges, ruins, "murders, blood, and wars, in their orbs: Track the cha"racters to their forms! Oh! rare fport for Jack! Never was place fo full of game as these breasts! You cannot "ftir, but flush a sphere, ftart a character, or unkennel an "orb!"

Settle's is faid to have been the first play embellished with fculptures; thofe ornaments feem to have given poor Dryden great disturbance. He tries however to ease his pain by venting his malice in a parody.

"The poet has not only been fo imprudent to expose all "this stuff, but fo arrogant to defend it with an epiftle; like

a faucy booth-keeper, that, when he had put a cheat upon "the people, would wrangle and fight with any that would "not like it, or would offer to difcover it; for which arro

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gance our poet receives this correction; and, to jerk him "a little the sharper, I will not tranfpofe his verse, but by "the help of his own words tranfnonfenfe fenfe, that by my "ftuff, people may judge the better what is his :

"

"Great Boy, thy tragedy and fculptures done,

"From prefs and plates, in fleets do homeward run;
"And, in ridiculous, and humble pride,
"Their courfe in ballad-fingers' baskets guide,
"Whofe greasy twigs do all new beauties take,
"From the gay fhews thy dainty fculptures make.
"Thy lines a mefs of rhyming nonfenfe yield,
"A fenfelefs tale, with flattering fuftian fill'd.
"No grain of fenfe does in one line appear,
"Thy words big bulks of boisterous bombaft bear.

"With noife they move, and from players' mouths re"bound,

"When their tongues dance to thy words' empty found,

By thee infpir'd the rumbling verfes roll,

"As if that rhyme and bombaft lent a foul;

"And with that foul they feem taught duty too;
"To huffing words does humble nonsense bow,
"As if it would thy worthless worth enhance,
"To th' lowest rank of fops thy praise advance,
"To whom, by inftinct, all thy ftuff is dear:
"Their loud claps echo to the theatre.
"From breaths of fools thy commendation fpreads,
"Fame fings thy praise with mouths of logger-heads.
"With noife and laughing each thy fuftian greets,
""Tis clapt by choirs of empty-headed cits,
"Who have their tribute fent, and homage given,
"As men in whispers fend loud noise to Heaven.

"Thus I have daubed him with his own puddle: and now

we are come from aboard his dancing, masking, rebound"ing, breathing fleet: and, as if we had landed at Gotham, we meet nothing but fools and nonfenfe."

Such was the criticifm to which the genius of Dryden could be reduced, between rage and terrour; rage with little provocation, and terrour with little danger. To fee the higheft mind thus levelled with the meaneft, may produce fome folace to the consciousness of weakness, and fome mortification to the pride of wisdom. But let it be remembered, that